About this plugin
By default WordPress sends email with the PHP mail() function, which many hosts do not configure correctly — so password resets, order receipts and contact-form messages land in spam or never arrive at all.
Kavin SMTP reroutes all outgoing WordPress email through a proper SMTP server that authenticates your site, dramatically improving deliverability. Configure it once in a clean settings screen and send a test email to confirm it works.
And when email still fails, the Connection Doctor finds out why.
Connection Doctor
Most SMTP plugins show you an error code and leave you to search for it. Kavin SMTP runs the checks for you, from your own server, and says in plain words what is wrong and what to do:
- Settings — spots a missing password, a port that does not match its encryption, or a host typed as a web address.
- Mail server name — confirms the host exists, and warns when your server quietly points a provider’s host at a private address.
- Ports — finds out whether your hosting company blocks the mail port, tells a firewall timeout apart from a refused connection, and finds a port that works.
- Genuine server — detects when your hosting company intercepts outgoing mail and answers with its own server instead of your provider’s, and names the certificate that answered. This is the problem where every setting looks right but email still fails.
- Login — tests your username and password without sending an email, and explains the reply: a Google account that needs an App Password, Microsoft 365 with password login turned off, a server that wants encryption first.
- HTTPS — when SMTP is blocked, checks whether your server can still reach your provider over HTTPS.
Find my settings fills in the mail server details from your email address, including Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Zoho on your own domain.
Features
- Send WordPress email via any SMTP server (Outlook / Microsoft 365, SendGrid, Brevo, Mailgun, Amazon SES, Zoho and more).
- Dedicated Google / Gmail mailer — connect Gmail or Google Workspace with a Google App Password in seconds.
- Connection Doctor that finds out why email is not sending, including hosts that intercept outgoing mail.
- Find my settings that fills in your provider’s server, port and encryption.
- Set a custom From Email and From Name, with an optional force override.
- SSL, TLS or no encryption, with a configurable port.
- Optional SMTP authentication (username / password).
- Built-in test email tool that surfaces the real error when a send fails.
- Store your SMTP password in wp-config.php (the KVN_SMTP_PASSWORD constant) instead of the database for extra security.
- Lightweight, no bloat, no account required.
Developer friendly
Kavin SMTP exposes hooks so other plugins can extend it:
- kvn_smtp_mailers — add mailer options.
- kvn_smtp_mailer_config — filter the SMTP config before it is applied.
- kvn_smtp_before_configure / kvn_smtp_after_configure — act on the PHPMailer instance.
- kvn_smtp_render_mailer_sections — add your own mailer’s settings section to the form.
- kvn_smtp_doctor_target — let the Connection Doctor check your own mailer’s SMTP connection.
- kvn_smtp_doctor_result — adjust a Connection Doctor result.
- kvn_smtp_doctor_providers — add a provider to the list the doctor and Find my settings know.
- kvn_smtp_loaded — run code once the plugin has booted.
External services
Kavin SMTP sends no data to Kavin Studios. It connects to outside services only in these cases.
Sending email. com ). That server receives the message, its recipients, and the username and password you saved.
Sending email this way is the purpose of the plugin.
Connection Doctor. Only when an administrator clicks Run Connection Doctor, the plugin looks up the mail server’s DNS records, connects to that server on its mail ports, reads its certificate and, if a login is saved, tests the login. No email is sent.
com ) to see whether HTTPS gets through. That request carries no personal data and not your site’s address.
Find my settings. Only when an administrator clicks Find my settings, the plugin looks up the DNS MX records of the email address’s domain, then opens a connection to the matching provider’s SMTP server to see which port is reachable. No login is attempted and no email is sent.
Providers the Connection Doctor and Find my settings may connect to:
- Google (Gmail, Google Workspace) — Terms, Privacy Policy
- Microsoft (Microsoft 365, Outlook.com) — Services Agreement, Privacy Statement
- Yahoo Mail — Terms, Privacy Policy
- iCloud Mail (Apple) — Terms, Privacy Policy
- Zoho Mail — Terms, Privacy Policy
- SendGrid (Twilio) — Terms, Privacy Policy
- Mailgun — Terms, Privacy Policy
- Brevo — Terms, Privacy Policy
- Amazon SES (AWS) — Service Terms, Privacy Notice
- Postmark — Terms, Privacy Policy
For any other mail server, the checks connect only to the host you entered.